"Kyungie dear! Take out the trash, will you?"

Kyungsoo sighed lowly, making sure nobody heard, and obliged. He grabbed the bag and slinked down the street, praying that he wouldn't get spotted.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help out with the workload. It's just that today was a Sunday, and that meant that the Jung's, his closest neighbors next door, were out, leaving their precious child with the babysitter. Kyungsoo was convinced that Chanyeol was related to them, because he found it hard to believe that anyone would trust their 5 and 8 year olds with a 14 year old kid.

Kyungsoo didn't hate him, but the 12 year old felt inexplicably wrong when he was around the older boy.

He wasn't dumb, he knew what a crush was. But it didn't feel quite the same.  He thought Chanyeol was much too happy, and it made him feel like he was doing something wrong, since he wasn't.

That and he found the boy's discreetly chubby face strangely disturbing, and yet somehow, it was still attractive.

He didn't care though. Not one bit.

"Kyungie! Kyungie! Do you want to play with us?"

"Yeah, play! We go to park!"

Well shit, he's been spotted.

"Oh! Well Kyungie, what do you say, will you join us?"

The easy smile on his face made Kyungsoo want to punch Chanyeol in the face. This of course, went along nicely with the feeling in his gut, not too different from a punch, as he met the boy's eyes. 

"I told you not to call me that," Kyungsoo muttered under his breath, focusing his attention on Hoseok just so he wouldn't have to look at the older boy any longer. Jaehyun, the younger one, hid behind Chanyeol, clutching his sleeve and pulling on it until the older boy's shoulder was exposed.

"Sorry, it's a habit."

"Well, if you stop it now, it won't be a habit anymore."

A smirk, and he spoke, "interesting theory." Chanyeol picked Jaehyun up, rocking him on his hip as he eyed Kyungsoo once again.

Kyungsoo left the trash by the street, and faltered on his way back to the house, turning back to look at the three boys that were burning holes in his back.

"Well, anyways, you're not dressed for the occasion, so maybe you can come another time."

Kyungsoo looked down, only just realizing that he was wearing penguin themed pajamas.

"You-"

Chanyeol tsked, firmly grabbing Hoseok's hand and adjusting Jaehyun on his hip. "Don't be a bad influence on the kids. Besides, you look cute."

With red cheeks and a tight chest, Kyungsoo stomped all the way back inside, slamming the door harder than necessary before collapsing onto the couch in a dramatic heap.

Chanyeol laughed, "come on guys, he's not gonna play with us today. Maybe next week," he hoped.

Inside, Kyungsoo still hadn't moved from his very uncomfortable spot, his face squished between couch cushions.  His mother nearly dropped her book in fright when she noticed the boy, and she let out a hushed string of curses that Kyungsoo caught onto immediately.

"Chanyeol was outside. Again. God, I hate him....  Being around."

Kyungsoo's mother only laughed, and she rubbed his back once, which Kyungsoo didn't appreciate, as it felt like she was fake-pitying him. And she probably was.

Okay, so maybe he had a teeny, tiny, miniscule, itty bitty crush.